ROME — Italian physicist Giorgio Parisi will receive a
shared Nobel prize at a ceremony Monday, but behind the celebrations is
consternation at the brain-drain that for years has seen many young scientists
leave to work abroad.
اضافة اعلان
Some 14,000 Italian researchers quit the country between
2009 and 2015, according to Italy's national statistics agency Istat — a trend
explained in large part by a lack of investment.
"Italy is not a welcoming country for researchers,
whether Italian or foreign," Parisi said in October after being awarded
the Nobel prize for his work on the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in
physical systems.
"Research is underfunded and the situation has worsened
over the past 10–15 years."
Government funding fell from 9.9 billion euros ($11.2
billion) in 2007 to 8.3 billion in 2015 — the latest figures available — while
in 2019, research spending in the eurozone's third largest economy was
significantly below the EU average.
As well as Parisi, Italy has produced some top scientists in
recent decades, notably Carlo Rubbia, the CERN physicist who won a Nobel in
1984, and neuroembryologist Rita Levi-Montalcini, who won in 1986.
But commentators note that research budgets were slashed
after the 2008 financial crisis, while Italy's notorious bureaucracy also plays
a role in sending young talent abroad.
"In Italy, unfortunately, there are big obstacles to
getting a university job," said Eleonora D'Elia, a 35-year-old biologist
from Rome, who has been teaching for the past four years at Imperial College
London.
She cited "a lack of funding, and jobs available, the
contacts needed and a highly complex system based on the number of articles
published".
Like a vegetable garden
The scale of the problem was confirmed by Roberto Antonelli,
head of the prestigious Lincean Academy in Rome, who told AFP there had been
"an enormous reduction in funds for universities and Italian research
facilities".
This was accompanied by "a reduction in the quality of
positions available for young people compared to other countries".
The number of professors and of long-term contracts at
universities has fallen from 60,882 in 2009 to 48,878 in 2016 — a drop of
almost 20 percent.
In London, d'Elia told AFP, there is "more support in
terms of salary and research budget", whereas in Italy, where she hopes
one day to return to be with her family and friends, she "would have to
constantly fight to get that".
The Italian government has vowed to use some of the massive
post-pandemic recovery funds it expects to receive from the European Union
between now and 2026 to help boost home-grown research.
Research Minister Cristina Messa in October promised six
billion euros in funding for 60 projects.
'Like a vegetable garden'
Antonelli welcomed the funds, but warned: "The problem
is the continuity of funding. ... What will happen after 2026?"
He said research must be measured in percentage of GDP,
which ranges from "the highest such as in Finland, Japan and South Korea,
to the lowest among developed countries such as Italy, which do not invest
comparable funds when compared to neighbors such as Germany or France".
Italy spent just 1.45 percent of gross domestic product
(GDP) on research in 2019, below the EU average of 2.19 percent and Germany's
3.17 percent, according to data from European agency Eurostat.
Parisi has also emphasized the importance of a long-term view.
"Research is like a vegetable garden, if you think you
can water it every fortnight, things will go wrong," he said.
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